Global Digital Justice Forum, IT for Change, Third World Network, and Association for Progressive Communications
The Global Digital Justice Forum, IT for Change, Third World Network, and Association for Progressive Communications organized a Civil Society Strategy Meeting in Penang, Malaysia from 3-5 March 2024. Titled, ‘From WSIS to Now: What Next for Digital Justice?’, this meeting proved to be a crucial gathering of diverse stakeholders determined to address the pressing challenges in the digital landscape.
While the UN Secretary-General’s policy brief on a Global Digital Compact emphasizes the persistent divides in digital access, data, and innovation, contributing to global inequality, environmental degradation, and other systemic issues, tangible policy shifts remain elusive. Despite the proliferation of multistakeholder initiatives, governance gaps persist, with key powers and corporations resisting accountability measures. The resulting policy paralysis has significant consequences for people and the planet. Furthermore, the role of Big Tech corporations as arbiters of our shared future raises concerns about the intensification of state repression and authoritarianism worldwide.
Looking ahead, this meeting brought together a robust and diverse digital civil society committed to digital justice for the Global South. With an eye on the 2024 Global Digital Compact, the WSIS+20 Review process, and beyond, we aspire to create a common space for coordinated multi-scalar actions; and this strategy meeting was a rallying point for the ideation, conceptualization, and articulation of a vision for digital justice.
View the meeting agenda here.